To Die For
by Reianshitsu
Summary: ORIGINAL CHARACTERS, USED WITH PERMISSION .:. Shinsei and Koei embark on a hike to a frozen lake, but Koei has hidden intentions.


_To Die For_

_A tale of two Hyuugas_

_Written by: Rèîán§hitsü_

_Characters by: Rèîán§hitsü & Ariana_

"I'll die, if I fall for you…"

Whispers filled a lonely night.

"But… but… I thought you couldn't die…"

Tears fell through broken words.

"It was the price I had to pay…"

Desperate wishes never to be filled.

"But… I love you…"

Lovers forever separated.

* * *

Shinsei gazed up at the light blue sky. The wind blew past him, waving his hair over his eyes. He returned his eyes to the forest in front of him and pushed the hair away from his face.

"What were you looking at? Stars?" Koei, a young girl standing right in front of him, asked sarcastically.

"If I were normal, I'd be shocked that you just appear out of nowhere," Shinsei added to her sarcasm.

Koei rolled her eyes.  
"Can't you just answer a girl?"

"I was looking at the clouds, why?"

Koei stretched, not giving him an answer.

"So what are you doing out here?" She asked.

"Nothing," A heartless reply came. Not surprising Koei, she had gotten used to it. After befriending Shinsei a year ago when a disastrous event had left them on a deserted island, with no one coming to rescue them. They'd spent plenty of time together since then, and Koei had learned all about Shinsei's actual condition. Dying a total of three times and somehow coming back to life each time, Shinsei was something strange. She also knew that when he came back this last time, he came back with a distorted sense of touch, no emotions, and forbidden to fall in love. But she knew he had a heart, because, on occasion, he would pretend as though he was normal, acting like he had emotions just for her. Though the moments were as fleeting as the night sky, Koei found herself enjoying a true zombie's company.

"Wanna come with me? I'm taking a hike to the middle of the forest," Koei paused. "There's suppose to be some special water there, deep in a frozen lake, I wanna check it out."

Shinsei looked around at where he was at the returned his gaze to the girl in front of him.  
"… And if I say no?"

"Then I'll kick your butt until you change your mind," Koei offered a smirk with a hinted smile behind it.

"Very well," Shinsei started walked into the forest.

"Hey! Wait for me Shinsei!" Koei darted after him.

Getting to the middle of the forest appeared easy to most, it was a fairly short distance, no more then a couple miles from start to finish. But it was not as easy as it seemed. Inside this forest there were giant spider webs and huge eyes peering out at them. It was almost as everything inside the forest was enlarged to an extreme degree. Thankfully, they didn't run into any giant spiders, but they did see a giant snake, which was too busy chasing a giant mouse to notice them. There was also a giant bird, which followed them for about a half mile as they got closer to their destination. As they stepped within two hundred feet of the icy lake, the temperature immediately dropped, like they had walked through a door, with normal temperature on one side, and minus ten on the other.

Koei took a jacket out of her bag and threw it over her shoulders. Naturally, she started to ask Shinsei, who was a few feet in front of her, if he wanted a spare jacket she had brought. But quickly shut her mouth, remembering that he doesn't feel the cold like she does.

The trees started to get thicker and the distance between the two travelers shortened. Koei, now tailing Shinsei by a few inches, paid close attention to where she put her feet. For the tree roots, sprouted out of the ground like lilies, were as sharp as a double edged sword. Every once in a short while, the two felt the ground move, like it was quickly sliding downhill, making Koei grab onto a nearby tree.

They soon reached the one hundred foot mark, which started making Koei anxious. They had seemed to have spent forever in there, seeing as how dangers kept popping up out of nowhere. The sky above then started to grow dark as a soft, Celtic tune filled the air. Shinsei asked Koei if she heard the music, and after getting a positive reply, they continued their trip, now walking side-by-side. Koei noticed that on every high note in the music, the trees made a soft sound, like they were singing along but unheard by the human ear except on a high note.

The experience was indeed magical, and several times Koei believed she was dreaming. Shinsei, on the other hand, was in a whole different experience.

Shinsei's walk had been majorly difference since they stepped through the imaginary door. The temperature made a sudden drop to the coldest he'd ever felt, but it didn't bother him. He was dead, nothing hurt anymore. He noticed Koei put on a thick jacket out of the corner of his eyes. He didn't pay much attention though, keeping his eyes ahead of him.

Suddenly, the branched stuck out at him like they were trying to claw off his shirt. He stopped for a second too look at Koei, who walked just fine through them, like they weren't even there, but she was paying close attention to her feet. Koei caught up to him before he continued, with her right behind him.

When the music started, it was like a dark orchestra, focusing on the horrors in life. The trees made disturbing sounds as he walked past them, singing along with the music in a rough, foreign language. And the strangest thing… a fire seemed to burn his feet, even in the bitter cold. He decided not to mention it to Koei, since it didn't bother him anyway. But he was sure he would have messed up feet until midnight that night.

All of a sudden, everything stopped for both of them. Koei whispered to Shinsei a soft, what's going on. Shinsei shrugged for a response as they both studied the surroundings. A white light appeared to both of them, descending from the night sky. When it reached them, it floated through the trees, and they followed without question or comment. They soon came upon a beautiful, frozen lake, embedded in a clearing of the trees.

The white light got over the edge of the lake, then became a beam of brighter light, burning a hole in the edge of the lake. It soon disappeared, but was replaced with a light blue light that swam up from the bottom of the lake.

"It's beautiful…" Koei whispered.

The two stepped up to the lake, Koei kneeling down to it. She looked at the water with a light in her eyes, a light Shinsei hadn't seen before. Shinsei stood beside her, watching her show her excitement in a subtle way.

Shinsei silently walked over to a tree and sat under it. Koei didn't notice for a while, but when she did, she crawled over to him on her hands and knees.

"Thank you for coming with me," She smiled.

"Sure," Shinsei replied, as emotionless as ever. He made a slight smile, though she knew it was a fake. "Looks like you found you're water," He paused. "What's it do anyway?"

"It grants one wish, but only you're heart's deepest desire," Koei answered.

"Hmm… that's interesting," Shinsei remarked.

"Oh quiet, I know you don't care," Koei mentioned before sitting beside him. "Shinsei…"

"Don't start."

Koei looked at him. "I'm really glad you came."

"Koei…"

"Stop trying to hush me!" She snapped at him. "I'm trying to tell you something."

"But you know why I am, there's no point in you saying it. One, I already knew, I've known a while now. Two, what would you gain from stating it?"

Koei looked down. "I don't know…" A slight tear started to form in the young girl's eye.

Shinsei closed his eyes and leaned against the tree.  
"I'll die, if I fall for you…"

"But… but… I thought you couldn't die…"

"It was the price I had to pay…"

"But… I love you…"

Shinsei opened his eyes and looked at the girl next to him.  
"I know."

Koei wiped away her tears and shook her head. She crawled back over to the lake, before motioning for Shinsei to follow. Shinsei sighed in a unique fashion before following her.

"What is it?" Shinsei asked.

Koei sat beside the lake, Shinsei soon doing the same.

"You're going to drink the water, and we're going to see what happens." Koei stated, with a look in her eye, telling Shinsei, he had no choice.

"Fine but I don't see the—" Shinsei got interrupted by a taste of water being splashed into his mouth. He swallowed without argument then looked at Koei with an I-told-you-so look.

Koei sighed and crawled back to the tree. She started softly mumbling to herself, something Shinsei didn't bother trying to decode. He did, however, crawl back over to her.

"Wha—"

Shinsei lifted Koei's chin up and swiftly kissed her, warming her cold lips in the process. He pulled back with a soft smile and whispered, "I hate it when you're sad."

Koei took a little but finally overcame the shock.  
"Does that mean you can feel the emotion?"

Shinsei offered a slight nod. "But even with the magic, the price I paid will return me to 'normal' after midnight."

"But at least for a little while…" Koei trailed off, leaning in for another kiss.


End file.
